“No. That’s where I sleep when I’m scared. That’s where I cuddle with you in the morning.” Tears glistened in Ty’s eyes and his shoulders trembled visibly beneath his superhero pajamas.
Evie’s stomach tightened. She’d never brought a man home after Mark, keeping her liaisons as discreet as possible. And Ty was already off balance after Zane’s recent disappearance. He needed a hug but she had nothing on and her nightdress was in the dresser. “You can climb in with us. Just give me a second to get dressed and I’ll find another pillow.”
But Ty had never dealt well with change and she hadn’t even thought about discussing the possibility about Zane sleeping over.
“That’s my place,” he shouted, the tears spilling down his cheeks. “And it’s Saturday. We’re supposed to cuddle and tell stories and then you’re supposed to make pancakes. That’s what we do. I don’t want it to be like how it was when Mark was here. I want it to just be you and me in the house and Zane stays at the clubhouse and we can visit him.”
“Hey, bud.” Zane pushed himself up. “Nothing’s gonna change.”
“It’s all changed. You changed it. Mom didn’t used to go out all the time. She didn’t leave me alone. No one slept in my place. We were happy and you ruined it all. You came back and then you went away. I want you to go home.”
“Ty.” Evie raised her voice. “We don’t talk to guests like that.”
“I thought he was my dad, not a guest,” he said bitterly.
“You’re right. And dads sometimes stay over so we can try and be a family.”
He hugged his stuffie to his chest, a blue bear her mother had given him when he was born, the only gift she had given him before she died. “No.” His little body shook. “I want it to be how it was. I want Zane gone. I don’t want a family. You’re mine. I don’t want to share.” He turned and ran from the room, his gut-wrenching sobs tearing through Evie’s heart.
“I’ll go talk to him.” Zane pushed aside the sheet, but Evie stopped him.
“Let me. This is my fault. I didn’t prepare him. I’ve never brought anyone home before, and it was hard with Mark. That’s all he knows about my relationships.” She slid out of bed and grabbed her jeans and underwear from the dresser.
“You want me to leave till he’s feeling better?”
“No.” She pulled on her clothes. “If we want to try to be a family, then we need to deal with this as a family.”
The front door opened and slammed shut and her pulse kicked up a notch. “I’d better go before he gets out of sight.”
Zane’s face creased with consternation. “I’ll be right behind you. It’s still not safe.”
Evie finished dressing and raced out the door. Ty was nowhere in sight, and the street was empty save for a white panel van just turning the corner toward the main road. Evie raced in the direction of the van. Ty had a new friend at the end of the block. He must have gone that way.
She made it half a block, before she saw the bear.
* * *
Zane heard her scream as he reached for the front door. And then he ran like he’d never run before, flying down the steps and along the sidewalk, his feet barely hitting the pavement until she slammed into him, Ty’s toy bear clutched in her hand.
“They have him. I found his bear. I saw the van.” She gasped for breath. “I have to call the police.”
Zane’s blood chilled and he scanned the street. “Are you sure he didn’t go to a friend’s house? Maybe he dropped the bear because he was upset? Did you check with the neighbors? How about out back? Did you look for him there?”
“I know him.” Her voice rose as she struggled in his grasp. “He would NEVER leave the bear behind, no matter how angry or upset he was. NEVER.”
“Has he been this upset before?”
“Zane!” She shrieked and pushed him away. “Viper has him. I KNOW it.”
“The police won’t be able to help you.” He grabbed her shoulders to hold her still. “Viper pays them off to look the other way, and the ones who aren’t on the take are too afraid to get involved. If he has Ty, then the Sinners will get him back. But Viper’s been quiet for weeks so I’m not sure if that’s what has happened. We need to make sure he’s not in the area before we set something in motion that could escalate the war. Does he have any friends on the street?”
“The blue house at the end of the road.”
“You check with them and I’ll ride around the area, and check the backyards, the park and the school. If we don’t find him in ten minutes, I’ll call the MC. I had Hacker put a GPS tracker in Ty’s watch the last time he was at the clubhouse.”
“You what?”
He cupped her face between his hands. “We’ll find him, Evie. I promise.”
Returning to Evie’s house ten minutes later, with still no sight of Ty, he began to suspect that Evie was right. And if Viper was prepared to victimize children to win the war, the MC would have some difficult decisions to make.
He called Jagger first. Then he called Benson and told him to get his damn deputy ass out to Evie’s house and issue a police alert, although it would do no good. Hacker claimed to be out of town, but said could be at the clubhouse in an hour. He gave Zane detailed instructions about how to work the computer and the tracking system. Zane asked what language he was speaking. He suggested if Hacker wasn’t at the clubhouse in twenty minutes, he could say good-bye to his face.
Unable to sit still, Zane went outside to meet Benson and the brothers who were coming to help with the search. Had the Jacks found Evie’s new house? Had they seen his bike parked outside? Was this about Viper’s obsession with Evie or was it directed at the MC? Not wanting to leave Evie alone, he headed back inside, and then he froze.
“What the hell?” He knew exactly what she was planning to do the moment he saw her dressed in that slinky black dress, her breasts barely covered by the plunging neckline, all legs in her black stilettoes. Her hair was loose and spread across her bare shoulders, and her face was barely recognizable beneath the thick layer of makeup.
“I’m going to see Viper. He had one of his minions call me on my landline. Stupid of me not to change the number when we moved. I’m supposed to go to a certain location, and after they make sure I’m alone, they’ll text me the address.” She pulled the contents from her bag and dropped the items one by one into a shiny black purse.
“No. Absolutely not.” Zane folded his arms and stood in front of the door, all his past fears coming to a head in an instant. She was distraught and emotionally unstable if she thought for a moment he would let her go to meet Viper.
“You can’t stop me. I’m not your wife, or your girlfriend, or your old lady. Not that it would make any difference.” She snapped her purse closed and he had to admit she appeared calm and rational despite the crazy words coming out of her mouth.
“I won’t let you go,” Zane said. “I won’t let you do this. You’re mine, Evie.”
“Yes. I am yours,” she whispered. “No matter what happens, in my heart I will always be yours. But this isn’t about you and me. It’s about Ty. And I will do anything to get him back.”
“Then wait. Trust me. The Sinners will handle this.”
“Trust me, Zane. Believe in me this time and how I feel about you. I love you. Nothing will ever change that. Even if I don’t see you again, I will never stop loving you.”
Even if I don’t see you again. Did she really think it would go that far?
He had no hesitation about what he had to do. Evie was his to love, his to protect, and he would keep her and Ty safe until he drew his last breath. “If that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want.” Her eyes glistened, her emotions belying her words, and it was that, more than anything, that gave him the strength to act.
“Gimme one minute before you leave.” He didn’t wait for an answer, but jogged down the street until he found Benson coming up the sidewalk toward him.